Jon Carr likes it when the room is full. And by room he means venue.
Jon says that both as a fan and an artist. He’s a drummer for Down and Outlaws, a San Francisco quartet that has played alongside Pavement, Meatbodies, Dead Meadow, and others. The band performed on “Last Call With Carson Daly,” and one of their singles is included on the soundtrack of an Oliver Stone film about the most wanted fugitive in the world.
Jon also is a visual designer for Lyte. Our platform’s commitment to helping artists, fans and venues fight secondary market influence is a big reason he’s here.
“I’ve been up on stage when you look out and don’t see the room as full as it should be,” Jon says. “That’s what I love about Lyte’s ethos; advocating for artists to help fill rooms and lower no-shows. It is such a big deal. You give the best performances when the room is full.”
Here, Jon talks about Lyte’s new website, fueling creativity, and what it’s like to open a huge music festival in front of 200,000 fans. Check it out.
Maggie: You are a visual designer. Tell us about what you do.
Jon: As a visual designer, my goal is to shape and improve the fan experience through color, photography, illustrations, typography, and all possible elements of the visual journey, from the first fan or partner encounter with Lyte to the exchange process itself. I work on everything from supporting the sales team with visual assets to promotional giveaway items like temporary tattoos, and other marketing materials.
We did the temporary tattoos last year for Life is Beautiful last year. They were these American traditional tattoos like stuff I saw growing up. They said, in some capacity, “Don’t trust scalpers.” We had someone there helping people put them on using a little bottle of water. People went nuts over them.
I’ve been at Lyte since June 2018. The biggest project that I have worked on yet has been rolling out Lyte’s new brand and website.
Maggie: The new website is looking amazing. What has the design process been like?
Jon: Our business services so many different aspects of the live event ticketing world. There are a lot of moving parts and visual elements on the new website that need to cater to all our partners and fans. When I originally talked with Ant (Taylor, Lyte’s founder, and CEO) and LP (Lawrence Peryer, Lyte’s Head of Business and Corporate Development), we wanted our name, the look and feel of the website, and our branding to be completely synonymous with ticketing.
When I first went to the website, I didn’t necessarily know Lyte was about ticketing. I want people to have a very clear understanding of how cool Lyte is. We are advocating not only for the fans but also for the artists and the event producers. People behind secondary ticketing sites are only out for themselves. We are trying to stop that.
With our goals in mind, we began with the basics and looked at color theory. We wanted to make the site stylish and clear. From there, we built upon our brand attributes and looked at how those came into play with things like our illustration style, typography, and how we treat photography. I am lucky to work with some very talented designers. Collaboration is key in a project this size, so it is important to know that you have people that can support you in all aspects.
Maggie: What inspires your creativity?
Jon: I find inspiration in so many things! I grew up in LA with a father who was a musician and a mother who was an artist, so there was no shortage of creative input in my life. I find listening to music is one of my most meaningful inspirations because music can be the focal point or the accompaniment to most experiences in life. I have always found myself adding visual context to the music I listen to. For example, the first time I heard the band Mad Season, it made me feel like I was in a cabin in the rain somewhere surrounded by tall trees. I am also inspired to write new music of my own, especially when I hear a new band that sounds like nothing I have never heard before. Music can make help me focus when I draw or paint and Music has such an impact on everything I do, I am almost positive listening to Frank Sinatra adds more flavor to whatever my partner and I cook.
Maggie: You are an artist yourself — you performed at Outside Lands!
Jon: Yes, we did! The band is called Down and Outlaws. (Editor’s note: Down and Outlaws has a new single, “Imposter” out now). We’ve had some success; one of our songs was featured in the movie “Snowden.” We played at Outside Lands last year and it was a dream. I had gone a few times as a fan. It was crazy when we were asked to do it. We opened the festival on a Friday and it was amazing…so much fun and pretty cool.
Maggie: Tell us about your background and career path.
Jon: Music has always been a big part of my life. I started playing drums in second grade in the school band, and after that, I learned as many instruments as I could just so I could play with anyone who needed a band member. I sort of fell into design out of necessity when I was in high school. I played a bunch of bands and those bands needed logos and merch. A buddy of mine gave me a few pointers on how to use photoshop and that is where it all started. I moved to San Francisco to studied art in college and that was where I started doing freelance design work. I was still playing in bands when I moved to SF and so I continued to be the person that did all the posters and merch.
While all that was happening I started working in the music industry. I was helping a live entertainment consulting firm, producing small one-off shows for Hard Rock Entertainment. I helped organize intimate shows with big artists that were either free tickets through a fan club or radio giveaway. I booked artists like Sara Bareilles, Paramore, and once I worked with Kevin Bacon’s band, The Bacon Brothers.
After college, I toured all over playing in two bands and was working as a freelance designer. I had a lot of creative outlets at the time but wanted something that combined my love of music and art. Once I found Lyte I knew that this was a company that I could get behind. We work with some of the biggest names in live entertainment and it is really rewarding to be apart of a company that is helping get real fans in to see the events they want to see.
Maggie: Favorite live event? Why?
Jon: Oh wow, there are so many to choose from. The show that I keep thinking about was seeing The Kills perform. My band had gotten booked onto a festival in the hills of Santa Barbara called Starry Nights Festival and The Kills were headlining the show that night. I have been a fan of theirs for such a long time and had never seen them perform and now we were standing feet from them watching the coolest people in rock and roll, perform my favorite songs. I have never seen anyone play the guitar the way, Jamie Hince does. It is like it is a part of his body. He is erratic and chaotic, yet he never misses a note. He makes it look effortless.
Maggie: What are your goals with regards to design, the website, and looking forward? What are you excited about?
Jon: My goal is to help make Lyte synonymous with safe and secure ticketing. I want Lyte to be seen as a standard tool to empower the fan and help fill seats with the people, like me, who really want to be there. I am excited about the growth that is happening in the company. We are building our partnerships so rapidly and bringing in new festivals, artists, and all kinds of other live events that I know and love. It is extremely rewarding to be a part of the visual identity of Lyte. Knowing that I have a hand in shaping how people see us and what we do really inspires me.
About Lyte
Lyte makes it easier for fans to go to more live events. Founded in New York City and San Francisco by CEO Ant Taylor, our killer fan feature is returnability. In an industry where a “no refunds and no cancellations” policy is the standard, Lyte enables fans to return their event tickets, no questions asked, to the official point of purchase.
Lyte also provides a safe and official reservation booking system, offering fans who sign up a fair price for in-demand tickets. One hundred percent of the tickets bought and sold through Lyte are issued through our ticketing partners and delivered directly to fans. Lyte has delivered millions in fan savings — $1.8 million in 2018 alone. It’s only getting better from here, thanks to our growing partnerships with bands, venues, promoters, ticketers and festivals.
For the industry, we function as a full inventory management solution, including a private-label secondary market to optimize event yield for event producers. Visit lyte.com.